Little Truffle

Little Truffle is one of the restaurants that put fine dining on the Gold Coast map. It sits on the Gold Coast Highway at Mermaid Beach and is owned by the chef and restaurateur Daniel Ridgeway, whose Ridgeway Group also created Madame V in Palm Beach and BiN. The official Gold Coast tourism organisation describes it as a pioneer of fine dining in the city, and it has held hats from both the Australian Good Food and Travel Guide and the Good Food Guide's Queensland edition.

The restaurant reopened after an 11-month break that brought a major makeover of the layout, fittings, amenities and kitchen, so the room now feels fresh while keeping its reputation. Guests can eat in the elegant dining room or at the bar, and the menu can be taken either a la carte or as a four-course menu, which is the easiest way to see the kitchen's range. Among the dishes the tourism board has singled out is a seared duck breast with butternut pumpkin puree, pistachios and a spiced blackberry sauce, which gives a sense of the restaurant's classic, carefully composed style.

Little Truffle suits anniversaries, birthdays and other occasions when you want polished service and a sense of event, and it is equally popular with locals and visitors. Couples and small groups are its main audience. The restaurant promotes itself as a multi-award-winning venue and as the Gold Coast's best fine dining restaurant in one of its award categories.

Dinner is served Monday to Saturday from 5:30pm, with lunch on Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm to 3pm, and the restaurant is closed on Sundays. On Friday and Saturday nights, tables booked for between 5:30pm and 6:30pm are given two hours, so book a later time if you want a long, unhurried dinner. Reservations can be made online or by phone, and gift cards are sold through the Ridgeway Group.

Allow two to three hours for a four-course dinner. Mermaid Beach has several other well-regarded restaurants on the same highway, including Etsu Izakaya at number 2440, The North Room at 2527 and Norté at 2217, so it is a good area to explore over several nights if you are serious about food.